The Sound of Silence
by AjAwkwardsauce
Summary: Jade is losing her hearing, she is afraid to be locked in a world of silence away from her wife and daughter.


Tori West was sleeping on her couch when suddenly her eyes snapped open and she found Jade staring at her.

"Babe? What's wrong?" She sat up slowly and adjusted her position to accommodate her large stomach. Jade kneeled in front of her and placed her hands on Tori's abdomen.

"Can you sing me a song?" Jade asked.

"What?" Tori said in confusion.

"Please." Jade rested her head in Tori's lap.

"Uh – okay." Tori started humming and began singing the first song that popped into her head; Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson. It was an old song but it had been playing on her pearpod earlier in the day. When she finished singing Jade had tears in her eyes.

"Jade, what is wrong?" Tori asked seriously.

"I'm losing my hearing." Jade whispered. Tori stiffened against her wife.

"What?" She was afraid she misunderstood.

"The doctor says at this rate, I'll be completely deaf in ten years."

"Oh." Tori's mouth took on the shape of the word. Her eyes looked fearful.

"How am I supposed to raise a baby I can't hear?" Jade pressed her ear against Tori's belly. "I want to hear Olive's voice. I don't want to forget yours." She pulled away and looked up at Tori's face. Tori shook her head.

"We'll figure this all out." She replied. "We'll make it through."

**Five Years Later**

Jade and Tori sat in the principal's office of their daughter's school. The woman stared at them with a severe glare as if they were doing something wrong.

"Why did you call us here?" Tori asked. The woman, Principal Elfan, leaned forward.

"You're daughter is refusing to speak to anyone." She clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Kids are starting to make fun of her, but she will not talk to her teachers. I have not had a chance to see her one-on-one but I would like it if you were here when I talk to her." She said. Tori's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Can you pull her out of class, I believe this is all a big misunderstanding." She asked. Jade met her eye and nodded. Mrs. Elfan picked up her phone and pushed a button on the number pad.

"Hi, Alice, can you send down Olive West?" She asked sweetly. "Okay, thanks." She smiled and hung up the phone.

"She'll be here in just a few minutes, the kindergarten class rooms are the closest to the office." She told them. They sat in silence until a girl walked into the room.

"Mommy!" She yelled and climbed onto Tori's lap. She faced Jade and started moving her hands quickly. Jade did the same in answer. Mrs. Elfan watched the exchange quietly.

"She knows sign language?" The woman smiled.

"Yes, my wife is losing her hearing and Olive has been learning to sign. Is this what she has been doing instead of talking?" Tori asked. The principal nodded.

"I am sure that is what she has been doing."

"Olive. You know that if you sign, you need to talk out loud as well." Tori told the girl in her lap.

"But it's really hard." She answered slowly as she moved her fingers in tune with her words.

"I know Sweetheart," Jade answered, her voice was slurred but her hands moved rapidly, "but a lot of people do not know how to sign." Jade continued. Olive watched her mother's movements attentively.

"Practice makes perfect." Tori told her.

"Okay, Mommy." She signed to Tori.

"I love you Momma." She faced Jade.

"I love you, too." Jade motioned back.

"Olive, you can go back to class now." The principal said as well as signed. Tori smiled in surprise. After Olive hugged her and left the room she turned to face the principal.

"You know sign language?" She asked.

"Yes, my son was born deaf." She nodded.

XXXXX

One day Jade woke up and realized she couldn't hear her wife's voice at all, and her daughter's words didn't make noise. And she cried.

"It's okay Momma." Olive signed quickly and kissed her mother's nose.

"You can still hear my words, in your head." She signed. And Jade realized that she _could_ hear her family's voices.

And she cried because she was happy.


End file.
